Eggs are a cheap and easy form of protein but unfortunately a lot of people associate them strictly with breakfast. And perhaps more people think that they're hard to cook. Nothing could be further from the truth.
This recipe is as easy to make for one person as it is for a crowd. You can even make them in batches and hold them in a low oven until it's time to serve. And don't worry if you overcook the eggs; this isn't Eggs Benedict. It's vaguely Turkish-inspired and I'll talk some condiments you can use to tip it into that part of the world, but with different seasonings it's just as easy to make it from other parts of the Mediterranean or even across the oceans to the New World or the Spice Islands.
You Will Need:
- Onions
- Spinach
- Oil
- Eggs
- Salt
- Spices
Onions
For a small dish, you'll want a small onion. For a larger one, you guessed it, a larger one. Or several smaller ones. Or my personal suggestion, more or less of a bag of frozen diced onions. If you don't like onions, even as a base for things, leave them out. They're not vital, but they add a nice sweetness.
Spinach
Please use frozen. Seriously, this is the perfect application for chopped frozen spinach. I'm not going to be one of those cooks who tells you to cook a bag of baby spinach down until you might was well have used frozen. Use. Frozen.
I would start with one pound of spinach. You can use more if you're feeding more than 4 people (or if they're big eaters). A 12-inch skillet should hold 1 pound of spinach easily, 2 pounds with more difficulty.
Oil
You need enough to sauté the onions and spinach. Cooking spray is fine here.
Eggs
Any size, any color. 2 per serving makes a light dinner. Who am I kidding? I usually eat 4.
Salt
Yep, you'll need salt.
Spices
The easiest mix is garlic and pepper. That's a nice neutral base which can be accented by condiments later. Beyond that, thyme and nutmeg are good with greens and eggs. Hot pepper flakes can add some heat. If you want to steer it toward any particular cuisine, add a spice mix which goes with that cuisine. Yes, I know that's obvious, but the point is that this is a fairly neutral dish which can have all sorts of different flavors added to it without fighting those flavors.
You Will Also Need:
A pan
I recommend a 12-inch. Here is where you can use something other than a basic frying pan if you've got it, but you'll want it to be shallow rather than deep. 12 inches should fit 8 eggs easily if need be. Obviously if you're cooking 4 eggs, you can use a smaller pan, but you can also just mound the spinach in the middle when it comes time to make the nests.
Let's Nest!
Start by heating your pan over medium heat (on the low end if your stovetop, like mine, runs a little hot). If you're adding oil, heat that up too. Then sauté your onions until they turn translucent. You should salt them a little to help draw out moisture.
If you're adding spices that need a bit of tempering, add them to the onions and stir until they get fragrant. I'd recommend adding your garlic now too, whether it's fresh, canned, or powder. I wouldn't add any herbs now; add them with the spinach. Play it by ear; anything delicate can go in later before you cook the eggs.
Add the spinach and reduce the heat to medium-low. You're using frozen spinach, right? Okay, if you're not, the cooking time will be shorter. Salt a little now too. Cover and cook until the spinach until it turns dark green, no longer the fresh green, and has dried out a little. You'll want to check on it every so often to make sure it's not burning or sticking to the pan, and once it's thawed but isn't ready yet, stir to make sure everything is thawed and mixed well.
If you used a pound of frozen spinach and a 12-inch pan, you should be able to spread out the spinach to cover the entire bottom of the pan. Once you do that, make indentations for each of your eggs. Here's where you can cook for a crowd; don't bother with the indentations, just cover the spinach with egg. You can even scramble them, though that turns into more of a frittata (which we'll discuss at a later date). But if you're making about 8 eggs you should be able to make 8 hollows (your nests) in the pan with spinach mounded up around each.
Break an egg into each hollow. They may run out a little. That's okay. This is peasant food, not fancy. Now, turn the heat down as low as possible, cover, and cook until the tops of the eggs are just set. Check every minute or so, because at first it'll seem like nothing's happening and then suddenly you'll have hard-cooked eggs.
Oh No, I've Got Hard-Cooked Eggs!
That's okay. It happens. I don't think I've ever made this dish without overcooking at least one of the eggs. They're still delicious as long as the yolks, though firm, haven't dried out. Don't stress. Add a condiment or two and no one will care.
Serving
Serve each nest separated, though not necessarily separately. You could do this buffet-style, or family style, or just put them on plates.
They're great on top of a small toast round or English muffin, or on rice. Depending on what flavors you decided to use, they could easily be served atop polenta or corn mush. They're also good by themselves. I've never had them atop pasta, but I don't see why that wouldn't work.
As far as condiments go, a fast sauce made with yogurt, a little sugar, and enough water to thin the yogurt down to sauce consistency, coupled with a squirt of hot sauce (harisa, if you've got it, or sriracha actually makes quite a good substitute), is wonderful. You can also use a spoonful or two of bottled pasta sauce, or salsa if you spiced it toward the Mexican side of things. If you're really adventurous, Hollandaise could absolutely go over these, and you could even put them on an everything bagel with a slice of smoked turkey for a fresh take on Eggs Benedict (I said they weren't Eggs Benedict, but I never said you couldn't jazz them up).
Really though, if what you have is ketchup, no shame, use a little ketchup just to give a bit of a pop. I don't care for ketchup with my eggs, but many people do and this is a fine time to use it.
Serve this for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It seems more difficult than it is, particularly if you put in the extra five minutes to make that yogurt sauce while the spinach is cooking down. It's a meal you can get on the table in about half an hour, and hopefully will convert you and whomever you cook for into people who eat eggs for meals that don't come with a side of bacon.
Variations
There is an egg dish which became quite popular in the past few years called shakshuka, involving eggs poached in a tomato and/or pepper sauce. Once you've mastered the spinach (which, being pretty solid, is fairly forgiving and good at keeping the eggs from running together) try your hand at shakshuka. And once you've mastered that, give huevos rancheros a try. There are all sorts of "eggs cooked in sauce" dishes, and this one just happens to be a good introduction to them all.
Other than that, spices and condiments are where the variations lie, and I could go on and on. Start out with pre-mixed spices and graduate to making your own. This is a perfect dish to experiment because it's basic and neutral.
Go out and blow the lid off eggs. You can do it. This is cookable.
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